Article - How to Be Your Cosplay Character - Cairdiuil

So I started a new job as a retail assistant and something I thought that was really interesting that the store manager told me was that when you're in retail, it's not about you, as a civilian, selling something to someone. It's about you representing a brand to sell something to someone and that comes with switching on the 'friendly retail person' persona. You speak in a bright voice, you greet customers sincerely and pleasantly when they enter and leave the store, even if the customer has an attitude problem, don't take any of it personally because you represent a brand and you still have to be nice to people. It's basically like unconscious acting.

Having thought about this, I thought it would be interesting to share an article on Cosplaying in character. The difference between cosplay and just wearing a Halloween costume is when you cosplay, you ARE the character. You're no longer you, you become this persona of your favorite character.

This is an article written sometime back by Cairdiuil of 'All About Cosplay' blog about 'how to play your cosplay character' here's an except

 "What really helped me with playing my character was I didn't just constantly watch footage of Rei (from Evangelion) in the series and seriously studied her mannerisms, I would look at cosplayers who portrayed Rei really well. I would save their photos onto my computer and study the photo and ask myself, "Why I am I getting a Rei vibe from this image?" "Is it the lighting, her pose?"

What also helps is study your body in front of the mirror and take lots of photos of yourself. Practice your facial expressions and see how their come out. The more time you spend in front of a camera, the less shy you will be! Get a family member or friend to take photos of you in your cosplay and try acting as your character. Even at home or when along in your room, in the bathroom say some lines as your character, acting as them. Well known theater actors and film actors like Danial Day Lewis do this, when coming up to a play they walk around staying in character. I try do this subtle when coming up to a shoot."

It's a helpful article written by a fellow Singaporean, very cool and thanks for sharing!

Photography/ Art 101 - Composition 101 - Aaron Diaz

 
A friend referred me to this sweet post by webcomic artist, Aaron Diaz who's the artist of Dresden Codak.

He was nice enough to share his notes he gave to his art students about composition. Note this info is basic Art 101 for not just illustration but pretty much Photography, Film etc.

Very clear and very cool notes that might help frame your photos/ comics better

See his full notes here

Article - Survive a Con, while Cosplaying - Comic Impact

 
October is Con season and if you're a seasoned cosplayer, you probably already know the drill for surviving a con in your outfit. For those starting out, Comic Impact has a really good guide to help you enjoy the con in your outfit (and not burning out)

In summary:

1. Check your packing list, and TWICE! (if you don't have a list, use Cosplay Tutorial's UBER list and make one!)

2. Check your cosplay ref photos before you head out to make sure you don't forget to bring/wear clothing articles/ accessories

3. Don't forget civilian wear! - Being in costume is fun but sometimes not very comfortable. Note that in places like Asia/ Japan, civilians don't like to see people in costume traveling to a cosplay event. Generally the etiquette is change into outfit at the venue and change out when you're done.

4. Personal hygiene please! - deorderant, tissues to wipe your face with, hand sanitizer if you're very particular etc

5. Band Aids/ Plasters - walking around in certain shoes/ boots that aren't comfortable cause blisters and this can get VERY ANNOYING. Good to have plasters when you really need them.

6. BRING FOOD AND DRINKS - Snacky things, nuts, fruits, packed lunch etc. Save yourself some $$ and don't spend on theme-park priced convention food.

7. Bring a outfit repair kit - Sometimes stuff just happens, popped a button, spill on outfit. If you have a repair kit, that would help patch up your outfit instead of let it be a disaster.

8. Schedule your day - You can wander about aimlessly but you can also schedule which panels, booths you want to go to rather than just hover about.

9. Get a minder friend - Not all events have coat check ins/ baggage areas. Get a friend to hold your stuff for you rather than hold it all day. Minder friends are useful to make sure people don't step on your outfit or hit you or prevent people from stealing your stuff etc.

Extra tip, if you know a friend who has a art booth or something, you could leave your bag at his/her booth ^_^

10. Bring the camera! - don't forget to take photos at the event too!


Here are my additional tips

11. If you're a serious cosplayer, don't forget your cos cards! - Cos Cards are like Cosplay name cards that Japanese Cosplayers first came up with. It's good to pass them out to fans, other cosplayers and photographers so they can check out your portfolio of other outfits.

12. Give yourself a time frame to be in costume - as much as cosplayers love to be in costume, cosplay outfits are not exactly the most comfortable things to wear. Also, sometimes you don't want to be mobbed by photographers and the public all day that you can't enjoy the con. Give yourself maybe 2 hours to be in outfit, then change out and enjoy the rest of the con.

13. You don't have to go to every event day - Some people are really hardcore and want to go EVERY DAY OF THE CON from Friday - Sunday. Trust me, you will burn out and get ill. Pick your days carefully and just have fun. You don't have to go to ALL THE DAYS.

14. Don't forget to rest your feet! - Walking about at the con is tiring work. Seriously, 4 hours of standing can kill your legs. Don't forget to sit somewhere or get a drink or rest your feet somewhere.

15. You don't have to pose for photos for more than 5 min! - So you chose to wear that really cool Gundam suit, but now you're stuck standing there for over 5 min! It's ok to give a signal to everyone that you want to move on. People will understand.

16. GROSS! Pervert guy took an UPSKIRT photo! - Stuff like that does happen so to prevent upskirts, try wear a kind of bloomers or something. There are weird people at conventions. Believe me.

17. If you need to smoke, try do it somewhere far away or out of costume if possible. - As much as we like out-of-character cosplayers, sometimes smoking mario just kinda kills the image of the character.

18. Be cordial to everyone, don't turn down people who want to take your picture - Hey! You're in costume! People WILL take photos of you! Don't be shy and run away and stuff like that. Also, please don't be rude even if you're really tired or having a bad day or something. Even if people get your character wrong.

Check out the original Con Survival Guide list by Comic Impact

Useful - The Cosplay Packing Checklist - Cosplay Tutorial.com

Unlike regular con going folks, cosplayers have A LOT of stuff to remember to prepare, pack, bring to a convention. The ULTIMATE. ABSOLUTE. WORST NIGHTMARE. is

You forgot an important component of your outfit


and of course your convention ticket/ passport or something else dreadfully important.

Never fear! Cosplay Tutorial has this EXCELLENT webform that you can fill in and print out so that you'll never forget stuff to a con ever again!

Check out the link here!

Health Tips - F**k Calories FREE Ebook!

When I was in college, I was a World of Warcraft addict. I lived on cereal for breakfast and lunch and had fast food for dinner. I felt fat, horrible and just disgusting.

Then I chanced upon Krista Scott-Dixon's REALLY GREAT website called Stumptuous.com

Dr Krista is originally a PhD in Women's Studies but this bookworm turned fitness junkie is all about lifting weights and helping others get fit

One day she was SO FED UP of all the crap she's heard about fitness that she wrote 'Fuck Calories' a free Ebook for EVERYONE on how to live healthy, ignore the crap and trust me, follow this stuff and it'll set you down the right path to weight loss and overall health.

Here's some tips from her book. Paraphrased

1. Stop counting calories

2.  How you eat is more important than putting anything into your mouth

3. Please eat SLOWLY

4. Concentrate on JUST EATING. Don't do other stuff when you eat.

5. Ration portions. If you're a big sized person, eat from a big plate, smaller sized person, eat from a smaller plate.

6. Eat natural food, not highly processed junk

7. Please read food labels.

8. Buy the best food you can afford. Don't need to buy ultra fancy stuff, stuff you can afford!

9. Orange Juice is not really the same as eating an orange

10. Eat a rainbow of food - colorful foods are good for you.


Go get her Ebook. its AWESOME. AND FREE

EPIC Tutorial - How To Make A Mecha Suit - Singapore

 
miragecld aka Clive Lee has made a name for himself as a Mecha Cosplay expert. He's been Gundams, Zakus and even Diablo himself.

Clive has so very very incredibly kind to write a tutorial of how he makes his suits and if you're brave enough to try, I think you should give it a go!


Here are some samples of his instructions

GO READ THE REST OF HIS TUTORIALS HERE!!

Cosplay 101 - How To Start Cosplaying (and not end up looking like crap)

This is an old article but a great one that was recommended by a friend

It was written by Sarcasm-hime back in 2007 but I believe the info is still relevant today




In a quick summary of what she says

1. Please use good IMAGE REFERENCE

2. Give yourself TIME and Enough PREPARATION

3. Choose the RIGHT FABRIC

4. If you're making your outfit - Choose something OF YOUR SKILL LEVEL

5. Choose an outfit THAT SUITS YOU

6. Don't forget to make YOUR HAIR up too!

7. ANKLE LENGTH HAIR only looks fine IN ANIME

8. Good Make Up can also boost your overall costume

9. Don't ignore FOOTWEAR

10. Sexy + Cheap = TRASHY

11. PLEASE POSE when people want to take your picture

Check out the rest of her article here

Prop-making Tip - How To Make Fake Flesh

OM NOM NOM NOM

You've watched all those Zombie movies and TV shows like Walking Dead and etc. and you kind of wonder: Man, how did they make all that fake meat?


Underwire just posted a very cool recipe of 'How To Make Fake Flesh' as used on Resident Evil Retribution

Its actually quite a complex concoction of substances like gelatine, glycerin, sorbitol and more. If you're brave enough to try something like this for your next Zombie project or for halloween, check out the full recipe here

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/09/pl_zombie_brains/

Photography Tips - Shooting & Lighting Female Models

 
FStoppers, an AMAZING website that talks about all things photography and camera tech, put up a really neat post on 'Shooting & Lighting Female Models' written by Joey L.

Joey explains throughout his tutorial on how he does it, his lighting set up and other really important tidbits of info that is just really good stuff

Check it out, really good article

Photography 101 - Really Useful Guide

What can I say, this image is SO USEFUL

From www.fotografiadelecuador.com